moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (03/22/86)
I was wondering how people felt about the changes made to A. Conan Doyle's "The Red-Headed League" on the latest episode of Granada-TV's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (seen on PBS MYSTERY! series). In it, it is shown that the villain of the story, John Clay, is actually a tool of Professor Moriarty. There is an obvious reason for this -- the next (and last) episode in the series is "The Final Problem", and introducing and disposing of the Napoleon of Crime can't be done well in a single episode (nyah-ah-ah), so they placed him here. This is also not the first time they've changed the plot (the Greek Interperter changed the end so the villain was caught); but Holmes has been "messed with" even when Doyle was still alive, so it's difficult to summon any outrage. Besides, from a Sherlockian point of view, it's a theory that has been around for some time. As pointed out by Baker Street Irregular Robert R. Patrick, in the canon, Holmes refers to Clay as "the fourth smartest man in London"; well, he probably finds Mycroft #1, himself #2, and Clay #4; that leaves a #3, where Moriarty fits in rather nicely. And as was demonstrated in this episode, Clay is more of a freebooter in the book -- the idea of him breaking into the Bank of England by himself seems a little unlikely, as he needs extra info. And it is the kind of plot, in scope and magnitude, that would suit Moriarty well. However, the idea of the Red-Headed League itself is a bit whimsical for Moriarty -- probably he came up with the general idea and Clay (or someone else) embellished it. At any rate, the two actors playing Holmes and Watson on this show are the finest in memory -- or at least the closest to the spirit of the books. I rather like how they stick to the history of the canon, instead of a letter-perfect rendition of Doyle's stories. Besides, we know (for certain) that Watson knew of Moriarty before "The Final Problem" -- in one of the canon novels, _The_Valley_of_Fear_, which takes place before "The Final Problem", Holmes and Watson (indirectly) confront Moriarty, thus having Doyle himself indicate that Watson's ignorance of Moriarty in "The Final Problem" is a ploy to introduce his readership to the man who was the greatest criminal mind of the 19th century. As well as the 20th.... "But in calling Moriarty a criminal you are uttering libel in the eyes of the law, and there lies the glory and the wonder of it. The greatest schemer of all time, the organizer of every devilry, the controlling brain of the underworld.... That's the man." Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer (another clever alias) ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty <*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>